ClearBridge Investments Ltd Sells 660,362 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

ClearBridge Investments Ltd lowered its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,738,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 660,362 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for 3.9% of ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. ClearBridge Investments Ltd’s holdings in Southern were worth $134,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,067,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,998,000 after buying an additional 33,120 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Southern by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department boosted its stake in Southern by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 514,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,095,000 after acquiring an additional 12,849 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on SO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

Southern stock opened at $89.70 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $86.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.